Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Kitty Litter Bucket Becomes Upcycled Compost Bin with Charcoal Filter

This is the Simple Human Compost Pail from one of my favourite stores in Vancouver. The store is
Room In Order at http:\\www.roominorder.com. They are really close to my Rhuematologist so I try to get there at least once or twice a year depending on how my arthritis is treating me. The last time I was there I fell in love with this counter top compost bucket, but the price was $69.99. Now my husband will tell you I am a tried and true shopaholic, but I just could not bring myself to pay that much for a bucket to throw my vegetable waste into.What really drew me to this bucket over the other models was that it had a built in charcoal filter, to help with the odour that comes from a compost bucket, which is not pleasant if any of you have a bucket already know. The bonus of having a compost is worth the extra work of having one by far. They were selling replacement filters which I have already posted about which I purchased at the time, well I finally got about making my bucket. To be honest with the summer heat I could not stand the smell of the compost so I had to do something. It was so easy I do not know what took me so long.

My husband found the perfect (no pun intended) bucket as it had a really great flip top that was easy to open. The only problems with it were that the label would not come off, and I did not want a kitty litter bucket on my kitchen counter. It just not seem all that right if you know what I mean, not that we have a cat.
So I decided to paint it. I taped off the top edge as it did not need to be painted. My paint choice was Annie Sloan Duck Egg Chalk Paint. I am fairly new to Chalk Paint but I have been hearing nothing but good things.

I have always found when I am painting something that I do not want to touch that if I put it on an old paint can to elevate it, that it gives me easy access all of the way around my object without having to touch it. The paint went on very easy, and only one coat is needed, even to hide such a bright label. Thank you Annie Sloan. I decided to go a little further and I cut out a few appliques with my Cricut. If you do not own one, you can always go to any scrapbooking store and have things cut out for a fee.

These are the cartridges I used, Cursive 101 for the lettering Compost which is on both sides and Damask Decor which I used for the leaf design which is also on both sides.

I used Mod Podge on the appliques. I brushed the Mod Podge on the paper before I applied them on a disposable palette, and then put them in place. This way I did not have to brush them with Mod Podge after they were in place.

I decided to not use a wax finish as is customary with chalk paint as this was a compost bucket and opted instead for a Krylon Crystal Clear Glaze Spray Finish. I was lucky enough to pick up this spray at our local habitat store for $1.00. I wish I could say the same about the Annie Sloan paints. Too bad everyone uses them all up. This involved more drying time and several spray coats but as far as cleaning the bucket it was very worth the effort.

This is the charcoal filter that I bought at Room in Order. They come two in a box, so I still have one. I am not sure yet how long they last. To attach it to my lid I drilled holes two together in a circular pattern around the top of my lid. I then took zap straps and put them through the holes and the charcoal filter and attached the filter to the lid. Simple.

You can see it took eight zap straps to secure the filter securely to my lid.

Ready to go. So far I am happy to say I can go almost a week before odour is a problem now that I have a filter in my new compost bucket. Now if I could only install a fruit fly trap.... hm mm